The Problem of the Day

Volume X - Sufi Mysticism

Preface

The eight chapters of Sufi Mysticism consist of
lectures, delivered on various occasions, in which Hazrat
Inayat Khan tried to explain something of the essence of
mysticism. He also tried to give a glimpse of the life and
work on earth of the mystics, those beings who, through
their advanced state of evolution, and through their constant
contact with the unseen and the unknown, 'hold aloft the
light of truth through the darkness of human ignorance,'
in the words of the Sufi invocation.

Because so many people are apprehensive of the word 'initiation,'
believing it to mean a kind of mysterious ordeal one has
to go through, Inayat Khan repeatedly explained its real
significance – for example, in, The Way of Illumination,
(Vol. I of this series, pp. 46-53). When asked what
initiation involved, he often replied that it was 'a blessing
and a welcome.' The Path of Initiationand Discipleship
is a collection of lectures and papers in which the different
stages and aspects of initiation and discipleship are set
forth in a comprehensive form. It may serve as a guide to
those who wish to learn more about the esoteric activity
of the Sufi movement.

Coming himself from a long line of Sufis, both on his
father's and on his mother's side, it is natural that Inayat
Khan should have greatly revered the Sufi mystics and poets
of the past. They have not only left an indelible mark on
the poetry, religion, and philosophy of the east, but have
also, in their own age and later, deeply influenced western
thought. In Sufi Poetry, some of the greatest of
these poets are described, their lives and their work, their
experiences and their characteristics.

The divinity of art, its mystical aspects, and its social
significance were subjects that were never far from Inayat
Khan's mind. Before he left India in 1910, he was a famous
musician, singer and poet. When he arrived in the west to
bring his message of Sufi wisdom, he used his art, especially
during the first years, not only as a means of livelihood,
but also to convey the basic Sufi philosophical and mystical
concepts to those who came to see and hear him.

Thus, one of the first series of lectures to appear in
book form was The Mysticism of Sound. Another early
series, called Music, was published together with
it in Volume II of the present edition. In order to make
people in the west better acquainted with Sufi ideas, the
Sufi movement also published in those early years several
small volumes containing poetry by Persian and Indian Sufis,
including translations of Inayat Khan's own poems. These
will be republished in a later volume.

During the last two years of his life, the Pir-o-Murshid
delivered a series of lectures on many different aspects
of art, including painting, sculpture and architecture,
which were published after his death under the title,
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. It is this book which
appears in the present volume in a slightly modified form.

Hazrat Inayat Khan's aesthetic standards differ, on some
points, from the values that are generally accepted in the
western world, as does the terminology he uses. It is necessary
to bear this in mind when following the Sufi mystic's trend
of thought. In fact, Inayat Khan always approached his subject
as a mystic, whose principal aim in this case was to place
art in its proper perspective, not so much as an achievement
of man, but as a manifestation of God through man. Therefore,
he does not describe ancient forms of art as a historian
would, nor does he speak as an art critic about modern art.
He merely takes some instances and examples to illustrate
the points he wants to emphasize. To make this clearer,
several chapters of a more general character have been included,
and a few passages have been deleted which referred to situations
and art movements at the beginning of the century which
have lost most of their actuality.

The Problem of the Day forms the last part of
this volume. It consists of lectures on the present need
of mankind. In these, Inayat Khan stresses the fact that
if, in our times, man has gone so far astray morally, it
is principally because of his declining interest in religion
and because of his lack of a higher ideal.